Explanation of a CUE

Songwriting, songwriters, etc

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andygabrys
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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by andygabrys » Mon May 06, 2019 9:25 am

staten wrote:
Sat May 04, 2019 12:05 pm
Do cues have to be registered with the copyright office? Insee a lot of requests for short cues and it seems it can get very expensive.
Indeed registering all your music at copyright.gov can get expensive. It’s much less expensive if you register collections of music vs individual tunes.

There are several things to consider:
1) copyrighting your works just makes it possible to go to court and then the court will decide. You cannot sue for infringement unless you have filed your copyright.
2) suing for copyright infringement is expensive - possibly not worth it unless you would be awarded more than ~$75,000. If under that you might pay all of it to lawyers fees.
3) cue vs song doesn’t really make a difference. A trailer music “cue” would be licensed for 10sof thousands of dollars and an artist song might $0.73 on the iTunes Store or be licensed and bring in 10's of pennies on streaming video. It’s more about the exposure the music has. The more it’s heard, and the more iconic / trendsetting it is (or copying something that is).

In the general library world though - there are a lot publishers who sign music exclusively and in the paperwork for that you will see that you actually do a transfer of copyright to the publisher in return for (usual) 50% of up front fees and retention of 100% of your writers PRO royalties. So they have the option to register the tune and you doing it makes things complicated as you have given away the copyright.

That leaves non-exclusive tracks and self published /pitched works. It’s up to you to decide whether or not the cost, effort, and the substantial time it takes to file for copyright is worth it.

It’s hard to say whether filing makes any sense - there is a lot of music out there and clear cut infringement happens in specific cases -vis a vis -Eminem vs Audi, Taco Bell vs the Black keys, the Gaye estate vs.Pharrell, Robin Thicke and T
Last edited by andygabrys on Thu May 16, 2019 11:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by staten » Thu May 16, 2019 11:15 am

So when they are asking for a transfer of copyright, does that mean I should not copyright the cue since they will own the rights anyway, or do I need to copyright to have something to transfer? You can no longer register more than 10 songs at a time with the copyright office,

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andygabrys
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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by andygabrys » Thu May 16, 2019 11:32 am

staten wrote:
Thu May 16, 2019 11:15 am
So when they are asking for a transfer of copyright, does that mean I should not copyright the cue since they will own the rights anyway, or do I need to copyright to have something to transfer? You can no longer register more than 10 songs at a time with the copyright office,
Don't copyright the cue. Its easier and simpler to sign the document that transfers copyright to the publisher, and then if they choose to register it with copyright.gov then great.

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by eeoo » Fri May 17, 2019 12:23 pm

Also, to be clear, something is copywritten when it takes a tangible form. When you record a cue, it's copywritten. Registering with the copyright office is more for proof of copyright. It's not a copyright, it's a registration of a copyright.

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by andygabrys » Fri May 17, 2019 12:57 pm

eeoo wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 12:23 pm
Also, to be clear, something is copywritten when it takes a tangible form. When you record a cue, it's copywritten. Registering with the copyright office is more for proof of copyright. It's not a copyright, it's a registration of a copyright.
+1

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by DeeperProductions » Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:29 pm

jbopar wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 8:21 pm
Can someone explain simply the difference between a button and a stinger? Both abrupt I'm sure, but how so?
I think a great example of a "stinger" ending would be the O'reilly's Auto Parts theme song. If you don't know it, definitely give it a Google. It's one of the most memorable and catchy (albeit, a theme song, not instrumental) tunes that come to mind. Definitely a stinger there at the end.

I hope this helps!

-Sam

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by staten » Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:55 am

Thank you so much for the info. Much appreciated.

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Re: Explanation of a CUE

Post by nickec » Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:21 am

21st Century Male Torch Singer considering rebranding since I write and produce *every day* for piano and guitar.
https://anyc.start.page +1 (213) 709-2917 nickec@gmail.com https://instagram.com/anyc.xyz

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